MyProgressiveRailroading

Amtrak's Anderson, leadership and challenges of same

A couple weeks ago, Richard Anderson took the co-reins at Amtrak. He now shares them with co-CEO Wick Moorman, as the railroad announced in late June. Anderson and Moorman will share the CEO title until year's end. After that, Anderson — who most recently was executive chairman of Delta Air Lines after serving as the airline's CEO from 2007 to 2016 — will drop the "co" from this CEO title and Moorman will serve the national passenger railroad in an advisory capacity.

In a June 26 press release, Amtrak Chairman said the railroad's board considers Anderson the "right leader at the right time to drive the quality of customer service that our passengers, partners and stakeholders expect and deserve while continuing our path towards operational and financial excellence."

Leading any organization is a challenge. Leading Amtrak may well be a challenge-plus. Moorman calls Anderson — who in 2014 he was recognized in 2014 as one of the World's Best CEOs by Barron's magazine and was ranked among the Top 25 Most Influential Industry Executives by Business Travel News — a “best-in-class industry leader who isn’t afraid to face challenges head-on. ... He's a leader with the strategic vision and tactical experience necessary to run a railroad that benefits our customers, partners and stakeholders nationwide.” Challenge-plus material, in other words. Congrats to Mr. Anderson. And to Amtrak.